Department for Transport

Art Works

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department has spent on transporting, installing and removing works of art from the Government Art Collection for the display of artwork in his Department since May 2010.

Claire Perry: The Department for Transport has not incurred any costs transporting, installing and removing works of art from the Government Art Collection.

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of drivers of Heavy Goods Vehicles in the UK.

Claire Perry: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency records the driving licence holders who have entitlement to drive Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) in Great Britain. It does not record those who are actually working as HGV drivers. In July 2014, 916,244 drivers had full HGV entitlement and 428,040 had provisional HGV entitlement, a total of 1,344,284. The ONS Labour Force Survey showed that 285,000 people were working as heavy goods vehicle drivers in the United Kingdom in April – June 2014. However, other people will be driving heavy goods vehicles as part of their work in other sectors, such as retail or construction.

Cycling

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 November 2014 to Question 213147, if he will take steps to reflect the percentage journey share for cycling in the proportion of his Department's spending that is made on cycling.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Funding allocations for transport schemes are not determined according to mode share – the factors that affect our decision to invest in a particular transport scheme are more complex and based on a wide variety of factors. For local transport schemes it is also right that local communities, through their local authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships have influence over those decisions. On 27 November 2014, the Deputy Prime Minister and I announced a further £214m investment for cycling. This brings the total investment in cycling by this Government to £588m, significantly more than any previous Government.

Driving Tests

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average waiting time for a driving test was in each month of 2014 to date.

Claire Perry: The attached table shows the average waiting time for statutory driving tests in each month of 2014 to date was: 



Practical Tests Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 10.46 KB)

Department for Communities and Local Government

Fire Services: Pensions

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the oral Answer of 10 November 2014, Official Report, column 1164, on firefighters' pensions, how many hours of training in firefighting the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the hon. Member for Portsmouth North, completed.

Penny Mordaunt: I have studied Chemical Biological Radiation Nuclear and Damage Control (CBRNDC), including firefighting, as part of my training as a Royal Navy Reservist. This is a mix of academic study and practical exercises carried out at a number of locations including BRNC Dartmouth, Phoenix CBRNDC School and sea-time on a warship, in my case HMS Bulwark during the Cougar 13 deployment. I have carried out this training over the last 3 years. It is not possible to calculate the number of hours spent on firefighting training but the syllabus for this requirement of Royal Naval Reservist training follows that in the Royal Navy Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defence Manual BR2170.

Art Works

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department has spent on transporting, installing and removing works of art from the Government Art Collection for the display of artwork in his Department since May 2010.

Kris Hopkins: The Department has not spent any money on transporting, installing or removing artworks from the Government Art Collection. Works of art in transition period are housed at the Government Art Collection and installation arrangements are made to make the minimal costs to Goverment Art Collection and DCMS.These arrangements are no different to those that operated under previous Administrations.

Local Government Finance

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much funding his Department (a) spends directly on and (b) allocates to local authorities for integration work.

Stephen Williams: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Africa: Females

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help end the practice of breast-ironing in Western, Eastern and Central African countries.

James Duddridge: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 27 November 2014 by my right honourable Friend the member for New Forest West (Desmond Swayne MP), the Minister of State for International Development (PQ215395).

Art Works

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department has spent on transporting, installing and removing works of art from the Government Art Collection for the display of artwork in his Department since May 2010.

Mr David Lidington: This information is not held centrally and cannot be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

North Korea

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the effectiveness of radio broadcasts to North Korea as a means of engagement with ordinary North Koreans on issues such as human rights.

Mr Hugo Swire: The best available source of information on access to media devices in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is a survey conducted by InterMedia as part of its 2012 report ‘A Quiet Opening: North Koreans in a Changing Media Environment’. http://audiencescapes.org/sites/default/files/A_Quiet_Opening_FINAL_InterMedia.pdf. The report includes a section on the effectiveness of radio broadcasts which is best read in context and taking into account the authors’ caveats about the report’s findings. It is clear that, for those North Koreans willing and able to take the risk of listening, cross-border radio broadcasts can provide access to information that is otherwise not available within the DPRK. There are a number of radio stations that broadcast into the DPRK for this reason. Without further information, it is difficult to quantify the effectiveness of these stations.

Turkey

Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the government of Turkey regarding their support for the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Kobane.

Mr David Lidington: We regularly discuss developments in Syria with the Turkish government, including on the status of the Democratic Union Party (PYD). The Turkish government regard PYD as an affiliate of the proscribed terrorist organisation, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Turkey has been clear with the PYD that they need to demonstrate that they are part of the moderate opposition and continue to urge them to co-operate with the National Coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

Turkey

Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the government of Turkey on  combatting ISIL.

Mr David Lidington: We maintain a regular dialogue at all levels with the Turkish government on the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right Hon Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), discussed cooperation against ISIL with the Turkish Foreign Minister when they spoke on 9 October 2014. Since then, the Turkish President has made clear Turkey’s commitment to support international efforts to tackle the threat posed by ISIL. Turkey is already making a valuable contribution to the international campaign against ISIL through use of its airspace and its airbases for reconnaissance and humanitarian support. We also value greatly Turkey’s generosity in hosting almost two million refugees fleeing Syria and Iraq.

Turkey

Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the government of Turkey about (a) relations with Kurds in the region and (b) the Kurdistan Workers' Party; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington: We maintain a regular dialogue with the Turkish government on relations with the Kurds in the region. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right Hon Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), discussed the situation in Kobane and the PKK with the Turkish Foreign Minister when they spoke on 9 October. We value greatly Turkey’s generosity in hosting over 190,000 refugees that have fled the fighting in Kobane, in addition to the 1.6 million refugees from Syria and Iraq already residing in Turkey. The Department for International Development has already responded to the urgent needs of Syrian Kurdish refugees that have fled to Turkey, and remains ready to react swiftly to further developments. We also welcome continued efforts by the Turkish government to take forward the Kurdish peace process, including through the introduction of legislation addressing minority rights and consultation with civil society. The UK stands ready to help in any way we can.

Russia

Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the government of Russia about reports of heavy weapons, ammunition and personnel entering Ukraine from Russia.

Mr David Lidington: I met the Russian Ambassador on 11 September and called on Russia to take immediate steps to end the violence, particularly to stop its supply of armour, weapons and personnel across the border and to withdraw all personnel and military equipment it has already delivered.At the G20 Summit in Brisbane, the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), joined other international leaders in calling on Russia to respect the Minsk agreements, including the requirement to withdraw illegal armed groups, military equipment and militants and mercenaries from Ukraine. The Prime Minister also made clear that if Russia did not, we remained ready to intensify sanctions.At the EU Foreign Affairs Council on 17 November the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), and his EU counterparts urged all parties to fully implement the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum swiftly and without further delay, and once again underlined the Russian Federation's responsibility in this context.

Bahrain

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on how many occasions he has met Prince Nasser bin Hamad of Bahrain in an official capacity; and when the next such meeting is planned.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: I have not previously met Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa of Bahrain and I do not currently have any meetings with him planned.

Iran

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the level of press freedom in Iran.

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Iranian counterpart on the detention of journalists in Iran.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Freedom of expression in Iran is severely restricted. Iran has more journalists in prison than almost any other country. New outlets and online media are heavily censored and the majority of newspapers are now government controlled. We continue to urge Iran to guarantee the rights of all its citizens in line with its international obligations. We most recently raised our concerns around freedom of expression during Iran’s Universal Periodic Review during the UN Human Rights Council on 31 October.

Iran

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the extent of restriction of access to the internet in Iran.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Iran systematically filters and restricts access to the internet. Millions of websites are blocked, including social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Many Iranian citizens find technical ways around the restrictions but their online activity can put them at risk. In May 2014, eight Iranians were sentenced to a combined 123 years in prison for their Facebook activities. Charges included blasphemy, insulting the Supreme Leader, and spreading propaganda against the system. We urge Iran to allow freedom of expression, and respect the rights of all its citizens in line with its international obligations. We most recently raised our concerns around freedom of expression during Iran’s Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council on 31 October.

Iran

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the level of religious freedom in Iran.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: In 2013, President Rouhani made a number of comments in support of greater religious freedom in Iran. Unfortunately, there has been no change in Iran’s approach over the past year. Religious minority groups in Iran continue to face widespread discrimination. The UK has repeatedly called on the Iranian government to end all persecution of individuals on the basis of their faith, and to guarantee the human rights of all Iranians.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Trade Promotion

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to promote overseas products that have been made in England.

Matthew Hancock: Last year UKTI helped 48,000 companies trade abroad – more than doubled over the term of this government. Through its network of International Trade Advisors across nine English regions, and export experts in over 100 overseas markets, UKTI provides an extensive range of products and services to help exporters of all sizes. UKTI offers a wide range of export services across its English regional network and they are detailed on - https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-trade-and-investment-services-for-exporters.

Part-time Employment: Females

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to provide (a) assistance and (b) guidance for employers to help them provide flexible and high quality part-time work for women with young children; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Swinson: Flexible working is central to how the Coalition Government sees employment in the future. From 30 June this year, following a full consultation with businesses on how best to do so, we extended the right to request flexible working to all employees. The Government has also made it easier for employers to consider requests for flexible working by replacing the previous statutory process for considering requests with a duty on employers to consider requests in a ‘reasonable manner’. To support this Acas has published a statutory Code to help businesses understand how to handle requests. Further information is available from: http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1616. To support the creation of more high quality part-time jobs, we are working to encourage cultural change in flexible working, especially to encourage employers to think about flexible working when they recruit new employees. For example, the Government convened an employer-led group to make practical recommendations on how flexible working can be beneficial and how it can be built into employer’s recruitment. Following the recommendations of this group we are encouraging the use of the strapline “Happy to Talk Flexible Working” by employers when they advert jobs. Furthermore, on 10 June, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Minister of State for Pensions and my Hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff Central (Jenny Willott) led a conference on flexible working for employers. The conference explained the benefits of flexible working and providing practical tips on getting it working within individual workplaces, including a practical session on successfully designing part-time jobs. In addition, to promote part-time work more generally, BIS, in partnership with the Business is Great campaign, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and PwC, sponsored a new initiative launched by Timewise in search of the UK’s most flexible small businesses that offer flexible work options to employees. The competition ran from 16 October to 24 November. The winner will be announced publicly by Friday 20 March 2015. The Government is also promoting flexible working and part-time working as part of the GREAT campaign to target business press. More detail on the GREAT campaign here: http://www.greatbusiness.gov.uk/flexibleworking/. Finally, Acas have produced guidance booklets for employers and employees on how to manage flexible working and a work-life balance. Further information is available from: http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1283.

Construction: Billing

Mr William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent discussions he has had with larger construction firms on the effect of late payments on small and medium-sized enterprises in the sector.

Nick Boles: I refer the Hon Member to the response to his written question UIN 212762 on 6 November 2014.

Social Services: Pay

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2014 to Question 213960, what plans he has to meet the Minister of State for Care and Support to discuss minimum wage enforcement in the care sector.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2014 to Question 213960, where in the Social Care Commitment reference is made to employer compliance with minimum wage legislation.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2014 to Question 213960, when the review of HM Revenue and Customs service level agreement for national minimum wage enforcement will be concluded.

Jo Swinson: While I have regular discussions on a wide range of issues with Ministerial colleagues I do not currently have any plans to meet formally the Minister of State for Care and Support to discuss minimum wage enforcement in the care sector. We do, however, also ensure that our officials work closely, along with HM Revenue and Customs, to improve compliance in the sector. To make the Social Care Commitment, employers must first commit to ensuring good employment practice. The terms and conditions of acceptance for the Social Care Commitment includes paying the National Minimum Wage as a minimum. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills monitors and reviews activity against the Service Level Agreement with HM Revenue and Customs throughout the year, and is considering what further targeted enforcement action might be appropriate to inform the next Service Level Agreement, which will commence in April 2015. As set out in my answer to PQ 213960 on 5 November 2014, action by HMRC continues to follow up on the previous targeted enforcement in the care sector, in addition to responding to every complaint made to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline. Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage should call the Pay & Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368. HM Revenue & Customs investigate all complaints.

Regeneration

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what investment in regeneration projects the Regeneration Investment Organisation has secured in the last six months.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Environment Protection: Taxation

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the number of businesses eligible for compensation for the indirect costs of (a) the EU Emissions Trading System and (b) the carbon price floor.

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many businesses have been compensated to date for the indirect costs of (a) the EU Emissions Trading System and (b) the carbon price floor; what the average award per eligible business was; and what the total monetary value of such compensation was.

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the level of compensation that will be available for eligible companies for the indirect costs of (a) the EU Emissions Trading System and (b) the carbon price floor in each year from 2016-17 to 2019-20.

Matthew Hancock: When initially estimating the overall budget for the compensation schemes for EU Emission Trading System (EU ETS) and the carbon floor price, a sector level approach was taken using ONS data on electricity consumption to estimate the total coverage and eligibility. At that time, it could not be assessed on a business by business basis.   To date we have paid £45.7 million to 54 electricity-intensive businesses that operate in international markets to compensate for the indirect costs of the EU ETS.   Of the 54 companies we have also paid £21.9 million to 52 of them for the cost of the carbon price support mechanism.   The average compensation per eligible business to date is therefore approximately £1.25 million. However, there is considerable variance in the size of payments.   In any given calendar or financial year from 2016 to 2020 the level of compensation is estimated to be: a) circa £20 million for EU ETS; b) circa £70 million for carbon price support.   The overall cost of EU ETS compensation in the future depends on a number of variables including the EU carbon price, which will vary from year to year.

Skilled Workers

Mr Adrian Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many skills shortage vacancies are expected in each employment sector in each of the next 10 years.

Nick Boles: The Government does not forecast skill shortage vacancies. The UK Commission for Employment and Skills published employment and skill projections on 6th March 2014: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-futures-2012-to-2022   The report presents employment projections for the period from 2012 to 2022, based on an assumption that past patterns of behaviour and performance are continued. The projected demand for skills is shown by occupation and qualification rather than by sector, but they do show employment projections for sectors.

Higher Education: Admissions

Mr Adrian Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many and what proportion of undergraduates studying in universities are of each social grade.

Greg Clark: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Further Education: Admissions

Mr Adrian Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many and what proportion of students in further education colleges aged (a) 19 to 24 and (b) 25 and over are of each social grade.

Nick Boles: Information on the social grade of further education learners is not centrally collected.   Table 2 of a Statistical First Release (SFR) presents data on the characteristics of government funded adult (19+) further education learners: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/learner-participation-outcomes-and-level-of-highest-qualification-held

Milk: Prices

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will hold discussions with the major supermarkets on measures to reduce the practice of suppressing retail milk price as a loss leader.

Jo Swinson: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) as the UK’s competition authority can carry out investigations where there is evidence of abuse of a dominant position or market abuse. Whilst the Government does not generally intervene in what businesses charge consumers for their goods and services we do recognise the concerns over the current pressures on milk prices. That is why my hon Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs brought forward and chaired a meeting of the Dairy Supply Chain Forum last week.   Members, which include retailer representatives, discussed the recommendations made in the recent independent review of the dairy industry voluntary Code of Practice, one of which was to explore the possibility of expanding adoption of the Code within the supply chain to include retailers.

Department for International Development

Overseas Aid

Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answers of 21 October 2014 to Questions 210509 and 23 October 2014 to Question 211186, what measures are in place for oversight of her Department's aid allocation.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID requires partners to set key targets to measure the performance of their programmes and report achievements at regular intervals throughout the year. Partners’ ability to monitor their programming is of critical importance to DFID and DFID makes funding available for these systems. In areas accessible to DFID (currently most of Turkey, and Jordan, and parts of Iraq and Lebanon) DFID humanitarian advisers conduct field visits to observe partner programming on the ground and fact check reporting. In areas that are inaccessible to DFID (namely inside Syria) DFID conducts a more rigorous assessment of partner monitoring systems and has frequent engagement with these partners to assess performance. In 2015 DFID plans to commission an independent monitoring facility that will visit programmes in areas inaccessible to DFID, expanding our capacity to monitor and assess the performance of our programmes.

Department for Education

University Technical Colleges

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of university technical colleges on the (a) funding available and (b) courses which can be offered in (i) local schools and (ii) local further education colleges; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Edward Timpson: University technical colleges (UTCs) offer pupils and their parents a wider choice of education by providing a rigorous mix of technical and academic education, backed by the support of local and national employers and universities. To date, 30 UTCs are open across the country and a further 26 plan to open by 2016. UTCs contribute towards our aim of raising standards across schools and further education colleges by introducing increased competition, innovation and choice. There has been no assessment at a national level of the effect on the funding available to other local educational institutions, or the courses which can be offered, with the establishment of these UTCs. Before the Secretary of State takes a decision on whether to enter into a funding agreement with any UTC Trust, an impact assessment is carried out in order to inform that decision. The impact assessment does not specifically consider the funding available and courses on offer in local schools and colleges. However, it does consider in detail the expected impact on pupil numbers at local institutions: the funding that is available for schools and further education colleges, which in turn affects the courses that they choose to offer, is directly linked to the number of pupils that each institution can recruit. The Secretary of State is required under Section 9 of the Academies Act 2010 to complete an assessment of the impact on pupil numbers that the opening of any individual UTC will have local maintained schools, academies, institutions within the further education sector and alternative provision in the area in which the UTC is proposed to be situated. These impact assessments are conducted on a case by case basis and they take into account the type of educational establishment, age range and size, the proximity to the proposed UTC and the school or college’s published exam results and Ofsted rating (which might affect their popularity). Consequently, by considering the potential impact on pupil numbers, the assessments indicate whether a school or college’s funding might be affected and thus the impact on the number of courses it might be able to offer. In addition, when approving applications for new UTCs, the Department considers whether they are offering similar courses to those already available locally and whether there is sufficient demand for the new provision.

Supply Teachers

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will provide guidance to supply teachers on the tax and unemployment implications of working for an umbrella company.

Mr David Laws: Schools and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers and deciding whether they use private agencies to recruit and employ them. If a supply teacher is employed by a private agency or their umbrella company, this is a private commercial arrangement between the school and agency.   The Department for Education does not provide guidance on tax and unemployment matters. These are matters for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions, respectively.

Sixth Form Colleges: VAT

Dr Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the amount of VAT paid by sixth form colleges in the UK in each of the last three years.

Mr David Laws: The Department for Education funds sixth form colleges in England, not in the rest of the UK. We estimate that the total cost of VAT for sixth form colleges in England has been approximately £30 million for each of the last three years.

Sixth Form Colleges: VAT

Dr Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on VAT paid by sixth form colleges.

Mr David Laws: Officials at the Department for Education have had discussions with officials at HM Treasury regarding VAT paid by sixth form colleges. There are no plans to change existing policy.

Education: Children

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the access provided to local authorities to registration information from academies, free schools and independent schools in order for them to discharge their obligation to monitor children who may be missing education.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Secretary of State has not made any assessment of information shared between schools and respective local authorities regarding children missing education. All schools (including academies, free schools and independent schools) have a legal duty to make returns to the relevant local authority and agree with that authority the regular interval at which such returns will be made. The school must inform the local authority of any pupil who fails to attend school regularly, or of any pupil who has been absent without the school’s permission for a continuous period of 10 days or more.   In cases where agreement is not reached as to the interval for such returns to be made to the local authority, the Secretary of State may determine the interval that the school then has to comply with.

Schools: Standards

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what timeframe her Department has set for schools in special measures to improve their performance before it takes action.

Mr Edward Timpson: We have a duty to take swift action where we know children’s education is suffering. Schools in special measures will usually receive a monitoring inspection within 3 months and up to 4 further monitoring inspections over an 18-month period following the inspection that placed it in special measures. A school will normally be re-inspected within 24 months unless it is removed from special measures at a monitoring inspection. Guidance for local authorities on intervening in ‘Schools Causing Concern’ is available online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-causing-concern--2 There are a range of powers that the local authority and the Secretary of State may use to drive school improvement. There is a clear expectation that a school in special measures will convert to an academy with a strong sponsor as this is the most reliable way of securing the radical improvement the school requires. The Department writes to these schools to begin this process within five days of being notified by Ofsted of the judgement.

Ministry of Justice

Claims Management Services

Mr David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to more effectively regulate claims management companies.

Mr Shailesh Vara: A number of reforms have or are being made to strengthen the effectiveness of regulation of claims management companies (CMCs). These include a ban on CMCs offering financial rewards or similar benefits to potential claimants as an inducement to make a claim; the publication of CMCs under investigation and subject to enforcement action; key changes to the conduct rules to ensure that claims are substantiated before being pursued and any data received through telemarketing is legally obtained; the appointment of the first two independent non-executive board members to the executive-led Claims Management Regulation Board to provide a greater element of external challenge; expanding the Regulator’s enforcement tools with a new power to impose financial penalties for conduct breaches; and bringing consumer complaints against CMCs within the remit of the Legal Ombudsman. The Government is committed to improving the ability to root out and punish bad practices by CMCs, better protect the consumers who use their services or are subjected to their marketing practices; and to help organisations that are on the receiving end of high volumes of unsubstantiated claims.

Art Works

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department has spent on transporting, installing and removing works of art from the Government Art Collection for the display of artwork in his Department since May 2010.

Andrew Selous: There has been no cost to the Department for the transportation, installation and removal of artwork from the Government Art Collection since May 2010.

Courts

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2014 to Question 214230, which courts he believes to be over 100 years old.

Andrew Selous: Further to the answer the Minister for the Courts and Legal Aid gave the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South on 18 November 2014, information on the Department’s HMCTS properties is currently being validated. A list of Courts believed to be over 100 years old will be provided as soon as this work has been completed.

Prisoners' Release

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will consult HM Courts and Tribunal Service, the prison service, groups representing prisoners and other relevant stakeholders on the new scheme for recall adjudicators proposed in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill.

Andrew Selous: The Ministry of Justice has already sought views from a range of stakeholders, including the Parole Board and HM Courts and Tribunal Service, on the development of the new Recall Adjudicator system and will continue to engage with these stakeholders and others, including groups who represent offenders.

Driving Offences

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he expects his Department's review of penalties for driving offences, announced on 6 May 2014, to report.

Mike Penning: The Government’s review of driving offences and penalties is ongoing. The review is due to be completed by the spring of 2015 with a view to informing the next government of potential legislative changes in the next Parliament. The timing of any publication of the review’s findings and recommendations will be considered once the review is completed.

Youth Custody

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2014 to Question 215244, what proportion of the overall number of offenders in youth custody in each year since May 2010 came from each of the ethnic groups listed in that Answer.

Andrew Selous: Table 1 shows the proportion of offenders aged under 18 in youth custody by breakdown of ethnicity in each year since April 2010 based on the monthly average custody population. The table also includes proportions of young people in custody that are of White ethnicity and the proportions of young people whose ethnicity is not available. Table 1: Average proportion of young offenders under 18 in youth secure estate by breakdown of ethnic groups in each financial year, 2010/11 to 2013/14.EthnicityBreakdown of Ethnicity2010/112011/122012/132013/14*AsianBangladeshi0.9%1.3%1.3%1.1% Indian0.2%0.2%0.6%0.5% Other Asian4.2%4.1%3.4%4.0% Pakistani1.0%1.2%1.3%1.4%Asian Total 6.3%6.7%6.7%6.9%BlackAfrican4.5%5.0%7.3%6.9% Caribbean6.3%5.2%7.1%6.4% Other Black6.4%5.5%6.7%8.1%Black Total 17.2%15.7%21.0%21.3%MixedOther Mixed1.7%1.7%2.2%2.6% White/Asian0.6%0.5%0.7%0.8% White/Black African0.7%0.9%1.0%0.8% White/Black Caribbean3.0%2.9%4.8%4.5%Mixed Total 6.0%6.1%8.7%8.7%OtherChinese0.2%0.1%0.1%0.0% Other0.0%0.0%0.8%1.1%Other Total 0.2%0.1%0.9%1.1%Not Available 6.4%9.5%3.5%2.8%White 63.9%61.9%59.1%59.1%Grand Total 100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0% * Data for 2013/14 is provisional and will be finalised in the 2013/14 Youth Justice Statistics in January 2015.These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and can be subject to change over time. The slightly increasing trend in the proportions of young offenders in custody coming from Asian, Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups may be partially explained by a decrease in the proportion of young people of ethnicity stated as Not Available (a decrease by 2.3% between 2009/10 and 2013/14). This is likely to be due to improved recording systems. It is important to note that there have been decreases in the absolute numbers of Black and Minority Ethnic young offenders in custody between 2010/11 and 2013/14 for most ethnic groups.

Ministry of Defence

HMS Victory

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Written Statement of 24 October 2014, whether English Heritage agreed with (a) his decision to allow the Maritime Heritage Foundation to proceed with the next phase of the Project Design and (b) the granting of permission to recover at-risk surface items from the wreck site in accordance with the Project Design.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Lord Lingfield

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what meetings he has had with Lord Lingfield since July 2014; who was present at each of those meetings; where each of those meetings was held; and what was discussed at each of those meetings.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Lord Lingfield

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will provide a list of the meetings the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Lord Astor of Hever, has had with Lord Lingfield since May 2010; who was present at each of those meetings; where each of those meetings was held; and what was discussed at each of those meetings.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

HMS Victory

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department included a provision for oversight when it transferred the deed of gift for HMS Victory.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Odyssey Marine Exploration

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what representations his Department has received from or on behalf of Odyssey Maritime Exploration about regulations pertaining to the management of shipwrecks.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Art Works

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on transporting, installing and removing works of art from the Government Art Collection for the display of artwork in his Department since May 2010.

Anna Soubry: In July 2014, prior to the closure of the Old War Office Building (OWOB) the Ministry of Defence spent £765.60 (inclusive of VAT) to return two bronze busts from OWOB to the Government Art Collection. They have been on long term loan to the Department from the Government Art Collection for over a decade. This figure included de-installation, packing, handling and transportation.

Libya

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November 2014 to Question 213404, for what reason £14.7 million of the additional costs of the recent training programme for Libyan Armed Forces personnel remain to be negotiated between his Department and the Libyan government.

Mr Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Libya

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November 2014 to Question 213404, when his Department expects to conclude negotiations with the Libyan government about repayment of the remaining £14.7 million of the additional costs of the recent training programme for Libyan Armed Forces personnel.

Mr Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Armed Forces: Education

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the announcement of 2 September 2014 on armed forces learning, what the cost was to (a) the public purse and (b) 10 Downing Street of (i) commissioning and (ii) producing the British Armed Forces Learning Resource 2014.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Assets

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) land and (b) premises owned by his Department are not in operational use; and what the estimated value of those assets is.

Anna Soubry: The total area of land owned by the Ministry of Defence in the UK is 228,000 hectares, of which 3,500 hectares is currently surplus to Defence requirements.Details of Ministry of Defence land holdings with asset valuation over £1 million can be found in Chapter Seven of the National Asset Register, last published by HM Treasury in 2007:http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm70/7022/7022.pdf

Assets

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) land and (b) buildings outside the UK are owned by his Department; and what the estimated value of those assets is.

Anna Soubry: A list showing the land and buildings outside the UK owned by the Department is attached. Details of Ministry of Defence land holdings with asset valuation over £1 million can be found in Chapter Seven of the National Asset Register, last published by HM Treasury in 2007: http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm70/7022/7022.pdf



215950 - MOD Owned Land and Buildings Overseas
(Excel SpreadSheet, 348.5 KB)

Buildings

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the running cost was of MOD Main Building in 2013-14; and what the estimated value of that building is.

Anna Soubry: The total running costs, including gas, for Ministry of Defence (MOD) Main Building are not held as it is managed under a PFI contract which covers both the MOD Main Building and the Old War Office Building. The cost of the PFI contract cannot be released as to do so could prejudice commercial interests. Additional costs of MOD Main Building for 2013-14 are set out below:  Item Cost for 2013 - 14Rates£8.3 millionElectricity£2.7 millionWater£0.127 million Details of MOD land holdings with asset valuation over £1 million can be found in Chapter seven of the National Asset Register, last published by HM Treasury in 2007: http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm70/7022/7022.pdf The National Asset Register is on a historic replacement cost basis, not market value. We do not routinely assess the current market value of all our estate because the estimated receipts will depend on market conditions and other factors.

Storage

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what storage facilities are owned by his Department; and what the estimated value of those facilities is.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence is responsible for a range of different storage facilities worldwide. This information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Department for Work and Pensions

Poverty: Greater London

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce poverty among adults and children in (a) London and (b) the London Borough of Hackney.

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce poverty among (a) adults and (b) children in Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency.

Esther McVey: The Government is committed to our goal of ending child poverty in the UK by 2020.   The 2014-17 Child Poverty Strategy outlines our plans to tackle the root causes of poverty, including worklessness, low earnings and educational failure. This approach reflects the reality of child poverty in the UK today and is the only way to achieve lasting change to protect the poorest in society.   Under this Government, 300,000 fewer children are in relative income poverty, around 390,000 fewer children are growing up in workless families, the attainment gap for deprived pupils has narrowed, and we have recently seen the largest annual fall in unemployment on record.[1]   But central Government cannot, by itself, end child poverty. Where people live matters. This Government has taken action to give local areas more freedom to do what people want and need locally including by providing local data that helps users identify specific local challenges. Local Authorities are required to have their own local child poverty strategies.   Further information is outlined in the Child Poverty Strategy. Local data is also published in the child poverty basket of indicators.   Child Poverty Strategy: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-poverty-strategy-2014-to-2017   Child Poverty basket of indicators: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-poverty-basket-of-local-indicators   Our strategy is not just focussed on children; Universal Credit will reduce poverty by making work pay and providing an effective route out of poverty.   This Government’s welfare reforms will improve the lives of some of the poorest families in our communities by promoting work and helping people to lift themselves out of poverty.   Up to 300,000 more people are likely to be in work as a result of Universal Credit, through improved financial incentives, increased simplicity of the system and increased conditionality.   Universal Credit aims to ensure that work – even small amounts – will pay. This removes long-standing barriers that deter people on benefit from working.   The Government recognises the immediate pressure on households and has responded with a range of policy interventions including:   · Providing funding for successive Council Tax freezes, saving the average household £1,100 during this Parliament.   · Increasing the National Minimum Wage rate to £6.50 from October 2014, the first real terms increase since 2007.   · The largest ever increases in the income tax personal allowance, to £10,500 by April 2015, will save a typical taxpayer £805 per year compared to 2010, and will lift 3.2 million individuals out of income tax altogether by 2015/16.  [1] Based on Labour Market Statistics published in October 2014. In June-August 2014, there were 538,000 fewer unemployed people compared to a year earlier.

Universal Credit: EU Nationals

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what external organisations he has consulted on access to universal credit for jobseekers coming from within the European Economic Area.

Esther McVey: Since 2010, the department and Social Security Advisory Committee have consulted widely about Universal Credit, the results of which are available on GOV.UK.

Universal Credit

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when non-UK citizens in pathfinder areas will be able to claim universal credit.

Esther McVey: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Access to Work Programme

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether an Access to Work claimant has to be paying class 2 national insurance contributions in order to qualify for the scheme as a self-employed person.

Mr Mark Harper: In order to be eligible for funding through the Access to Work programme customers must satisfy certain eligibility criteria. One of these criteria is that they are employed or self employed. For Access to Work purposes, self-employment is defined as:• operating a business either alone or in partnership, or working for an employer on a self-employed contractual basis;• operating a franchised business on a self-employed basis;• paying Class II or class IV National Insurance contributions.• If the applicant is over retirement age (and therefore no longer liable to pay National Insurance) AtW staff will seek to determine that the person is self-employed by requesting a business plan approved by a bank or other financial authority.

Remploy

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employees of Remploy in Wrexham made redundant in the last four years are currently in receipt of jobseeker's allowance.

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many former employees of Remploy in Wrexham were made redundant in each of the last four years for which figures are available.

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many former employees of Remploy in Wrexham made redundant in the last four years are now in (a) part-time and (b) full-time employment.

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employees of Remploy in Wrexham made redundant in the last four years are now self-employed.

Mr Mark Harper: 11 disabled Remploy Wrexham Factory employees applied and were accepted under Remploy’s voluntary redundancy scheme in 2011/12. No information is held by the Department on these former employees. 41 Remploy Wrexham Factory employees, including 40 disabled people, were made redundant in 2012/13. Our latest figures show that 34 disabled former Remploy Wrexham employees are choosing to work with our Personal Case Workers to find another job. Of these 14 are in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance and 16 are currently in work. Our records of former Remploy disabled employees currently in work only show individuals who are in employment of 16 hours or more and does not indicate the type of employment, or whether it is permanent, fixed term, temporary or voluntary. For all disabled former Remploy workers made redundant as a result of factory closures, the Government put in place the £8 million guaranteed People Help and Support Package (PHSP). The support package provides help to each affected disabled former employee for up to 18 months from the date they left Remploy. As part of this support package the Department also asked all disabled former employees made redundant from Remploy to give permission to be tracked, and can only monitor the progress and outcomes of those individuals that have given permission.

Universal Credit: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) single people, (b) couples without children and (c) couples with children in Warrington are currently in receipt of universal credit.

Mr Mark Harper: The information you have requested is not currently available. The Department published its strategy for releasing official statistics on Universal Credit in September 2013 which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics   These statistics however will be published in accordance with the relevant protocols in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. As outlined in the strategy, officials are currently quality assuring data for Universal Credit, therefore it is not yet possible to give a definitive list of what statistics will be provided in the future.

Income Support: Scotland

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households in each (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) local authority in Scotland have had their income support capped since the introduction of the benefits cap.

Esther McVey: The number of households subject to the benefit cap by (a) Parliamentary Constituency and (b) Local Authority is published quarterly through Stat-Xplore, the Department’s online interactive tabulation tool. The latest data, showing the total number of households capped from 15 April 2013, when the benefit cap was introduced, to August 2014, can be found in Table 1 of the data tables published here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ The benefit cap applies to the combined income from a number of benefits, including Income Support. • the main out-of-work benefits (Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, and Employment and Support Allowance except when the Support Component is in payment);• Housing Benefit;• Child Benefit;• Child Tax Credit;• other benefits such as Carer’s Allowance. The cap is currently administered through Housing Benefit. This means that, if affected, it is only a household’s Housing Benefit entitlement that is reduced so that the total amount of benefit received is no longer higher than the cap level.

Community Work

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been engaged on community work placements in each month since April 2014.

Esther McVey: The information is not readily available. The Department works to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Milk: China

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to encourage exports of powdered milk to China.

George Eustice: The Chinese market for powdered milk is very valuable and represents a significant opportunity for UK businesses. UK Government support and encouragement is assisting them to capitalise on this: last year UK exports of powdered milk to China reached £5.9 million, an increase in value of 89% from 2010.

Solar Power

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to balance the environmental damage caused to agricultural land by solar farm developments with the need to mitigate the effects of climate change when considering whether farm subsidies should be paid on farm land occupied by solar farms.

George Eustice: Agricultural land and soils form an integral part of the natural environment. While the Government recognises that solar power can have a role to play in reducing carbon emissions, the loss of agricultural land to solar arrays constitutes damage to that element of the environment. The Government therefore discourages the construction of solar farms on the best and most versatile agricultural land and has withdrawn farm subsidies from land occupied by solar farms. The Government believes that farm subsidies should be targeted at land used for growing food and crops.

Home Office

Asylum: Afghanistan

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many of the Afghan asylum seekers found in a shipping container at Tilbury Docks in August 2014 have (a) been granted asylum, (b) been refused asylum but remain in the UK and (c) been refused asylum and removed from the UK.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 20 November 2014



Following the tragic incident at Tilbury, 34 individuals have claimed asylum and their cases are currently being considered. The UK has a proud history of granting asylum to those who need our protection and every claim will be considered on its individual merits.

Knives: Greater London

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many incidents of knife crime were recorded by the Metropolitan Police in (a) Greater London and (b) Lambeth in each year from 2005 to date.

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many incidents of gun crime were recorded by the Metropolitan Police in (a) Greater London and (b) Lambeth in each year from 2005 to date.

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how her Department defines gang related incidents when recording incidences; how many incidents of gang related crime were recorded by the Metropolitan Police in (a) Greater London and (b) Lambeth in each year from 2005 to 2014.

Lynne Featherstone: The number of offences recorded by the Metropolitan Police involving knives and firearms are shown in Tables A and B respectively. The figures are not available below police force area.The number of offences involving knives has been collected by the Home Office since 2008/09.The number of selected offences involving a knife or sharp instrument recorded by the Metropolitan police has fallen by 20% between 2008/09 and the year ending June 2014. The number of offences involving firearms recorded by the Metropolitan police has fallen by 60% between 2005/06 and the year ending June 2014. The Home Office has not issued any definition of gang-related crime for the purposes of recording such crime by local police forces. The Home Office does not collect data on number of gang related crimes recorded by the police.   



Number of offences involving knives & firearms
(Excel SpreadSheet, 36 KB)

Antisemitism

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of changes in the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Lynne Featherstone: The UK Government takes all forms of hate crime very seriously. We deplore all religious and racially-motivated attacks. Between 2012-13 and 2013-14 police-recorded race hate crime increased by 4% (an increase of 1,595 offences) and religious hate crime by 45% (an increase of 700 offences) in England and Wales. The increase in recorded hate crime shows that more victims are coming forward and that the police are improving the way they identify hate crimes, and we welcome this.The Community Security Trust monitors levels of antisemitism. Their most recent report, published at the end of July covering the period of January to June 2014, highlighted that there had been a 36% increase in the number of antisemitic incidents recorded compared to the same period in 2013 (307 incidents in 2014, compared to 223 in 2013). Following this, they recorded 314 antisemitic incidents in July, and 229 in August, making the combined total for those two months higher than the total for the whole of 2013.When these events occur it is vital that the police take action to engage effectively with communities. Police forces in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland have recently been issued with new guidance for dealing with hate crimes, which includes advice on dealing with incidents and how to monitor and deal with community tensions.We have also established a working group to tackle antisemitism which brings together community representatives and experts from across government to help explore issues affecting these communities.

Disclosure and Barring Service Independent Monitor

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions the Independent Monitor for the Disclosure and Barring Service has overturned decisions made by the police since 1 December 2012.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Speed Limits: Fixed Penalties

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that penalties for speeding are enforced against drivers from overseas; and what her policy is on the introduction of on-the-spot fines for speeding.

Mike Penning: Enforcement of road traffic legislation is an operational matter for the police. The police are able to issue all motorists on the roads with fixed penalty notices for speeding. Motorists who cannot provide a verified UK address can be required to make an on-the-spot roadside payment, also known as a fixed penalty deposit.

Offences against Children

Mr Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people under the age of 16 have been the victim of a sexual offence in each police area in the last year for which data is available.

Lynne Featherstone: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Counter-terrorism

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding that was previously allocated to the Prevent agenda is now allocated to integration projects.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Offences against Children

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions (a) she, (b) the Minister for Crime Prevention, the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green and (c) the previous Minister for Crime Prevention, the hon. Member for Lewes has met survivors of child sexual abuse or representatives of the survivors of child abuse.

Lynne Featherstone: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Networking

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what amount her Department spent on (a) advertisements placed on social media websites, (b) other promotional activities on social media, (c) social media consultants and (d) other activity related to social media in each of the last five years.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Rape: Cheshire

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps (a) her Department, (b) Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) and (c) Cheshire Police have taken in responce to the recent HMIC report on Cheshire Police's handling of rape cases; and if she will make a statement.

Mike Penning: The Government are committed to improving the police response to rape, and it is vital that police-recorded crime statistics are robust to ensure victims get the support they need. That is why the Home Secretary asked Her Majesty’s inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) to carry out an all-force investigation of crime recording practices, including for rape.These reports, in conjunction with HMIC’s Rape Monitoring Group data for rape published earlier in the year, gives all chief constables and police and crime commissioners key data and analysis to improve their force’s response to victims of rape. It is right that Cheshire Constabulary is taking steps to address the main recommendations highlighted within the HMIC report, and the police and crime commissioner have both committed to ensuring that victims are at the heart of policing.

HM Treasury

Infrastructure

Ann McKechin: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many of the infrastructure projects prequalified under the UK Guarantees scheme have received financing since the inception of that scheme.

Danny Alexander: Six guarantees and one stand-by facility, with a capital value of over £3 billion, have been issued to projects through the legislation underpinning the UK Guarantees Scheme.   Twelve additional projects that were previously prequalified reached financial close without using the scheme.   A list of prequalified projects and those issued guarantees can be found at the following link:   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-guarantees-scheme-prequalified-projects/uk-guarantees-scheme-table-of-prequalified-projects

Railways: Fares

Lilian Greenwood: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2014 to Question 213271, what the estimated cost to the Exchequer in the calendar year 2015 will be of (a) raising regulated national rail fares by the retail price index (RPI), (b) raising Transport for London rail fares by RPI and (c) removing train operators' flexibility to vary regulated fare levels within the basket of fares.

Danny Alexander: The estimated cost to the taxpayer, to the end of March 2016, of raising regulated national rail fares by the retail price index (RPI) in January 2015 is £39m.   The estimated cost to the taxpayer, to the end of March 2016, of raising Transport for London rail fares by the retail price index (RPI) in January 2015 is £43m.   The estimated cost to the taxpayer, to the end of March 2016, of removing operators’ flexibility to vary regulated fare levels within the basket of fares in January 2015 is £14m.

Art Works

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department has spent on transporting, installing and removing works of art from the Government Art Collection for the display of artwork in his Department since May 2010.

Andrea Leadsom: The department have not spent anything since May 2010 for the transporting, installing and removal of works of art from the Government Art Collection.

Bitcoin

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his policy is on attracting companies that develop bitcoin technology to locate in the UK.

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the ability of companies dealing with bitcoin to open a bank account.

Andrea Leadsom: Earlier this year, the Chancellor set out plans to make Britain the global centre of financial innovation, benefitting consumers and businesses, including a major programme of work looking at the benefits and risks of digital currencies, and to look into whether they could or should be regulated.   On 3 November, the Treasury published a Call for Information on digital currencies. This Call for Information asks whether there are currently barriers to digital currency businesses setting up in the UK, and the Government will consider access to UK bank accounts as part of this.   In October, the Financial Conduct Authority launched its Innovation Hub to provide support to innovative businesses. It has identified helping innovators access bank accounts as a key priority.

Bank Services

Cathy Jamieson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the banking industry on full account number portability.

Andrea Leadsom: Treasury Ministers and officials meet with a wide range of organisations as part of the usual policy making process.   It might be useful to know that the Treasury publishes a list of ministerial meetings with external organisations. This is available online at: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/minister_hospitality.htm.   The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is currently undertaking a review of the effectiveness of the Current Account Switch Service. Alongside this review the FCA is also gathering evidence on other options to improve switching, including account number portability. The FCA expects to conclude its review in the first quarter of 2015.

Revenue and Customs

Sheila Gilmore: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average length of time taken to answer calls to tax credit helplines was in the last 12 months.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publishes quarterly information about our telephony performance, which is available on GOV.UK: www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-plan-indicators

Public Expenditure

Mr Andy Slaughter: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of printing and distributing personal tax summaries; on what criteria it was determined who would receive such summaries; what representations he has received on the wording used in those documents; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke: The cost to print and post annual tax summaries was published in response to Parliamentary question number 213257 on 11 November.   Tax summaries are being sent to around 24 million taxpayers. Individuals will not receive a tax summary if they have paid no income tax in the past year, or where HMRC is awaiting updated PAYE information.   HMRC undertook in-depth customer research to test with taxpayers whether they found the information on tax summaries clear and comprehensive.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Hinkley Point C Power Station

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether he plans to sign a contract with EDF for Hinkley C nuclear power station before April 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Matthew Hancock: The Government is continuing to negotiate with EDF on both the Contract for Difference and the UK Guarantee for Hinkley Point C, and plans to sign a contract in due course.

Energy: Investment

Mr Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much energy investment of each type was made by energy companies in each year since 1984.

Matthew Hancock: The Department does not hold this information. However, we recently published an Energy Investment Report which showed significant levels of investment since 2010.· January 2010 and 2013 mobilised over £45 billion in low carbon energy infrastructure,1 which will also support up to 250,000 jobs in the low-carbon energy generation sector by 2020.· In 2013 DECC estimates that over £14bn was invested in electricity generation and networks.· Nearly £8 billion invested across a range of renewable technologies in 2013 alone – a record year.2· UK is the most attractive market in the world for investment in offshore wind and marine renewables.[1] DECC estimates based on EMR Delivery Plan modelling[2] Bloomberg New Energy Finance, nominal, converted to pounds sterling.

Cabinet Office

Art Works

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department has spent on transporting, installing and removing works of art from the Government Art Collection for the display of artwork in his Department since May 2010.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Office has spent on transporting, installing and removing works of art from the Government Art Collection for the display of artwork in his Office since May 2010.

Mr Francis Maude: As has been the case under successive administrations, the general practice is to only transport, install and remove works of art from the Government Art Collection during refurbishment projects, such as the ongoing programme to refurbish 70 Whitehall which began under a previous administration. Management Units are able to request installation or removal of art work but expenditure incurred in these circumstances is not identified separately on my Department's financial systems.

Cancer

Mr John Baron: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the (a) one year and (b) five year mortality rates are for cancer patients aged over 75 years.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



ONS Letter to Member - Cancer Rate
(PDF Document, 100.25 KB)

Low Pay: Kilmarnock

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of (i) men and (ii) women in Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency who earn less than the living wage.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Living Wage
(PDF Document, 113.64 KB)

Government Departments: Political Impartiality

Chris Bryant: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 37 of the Government Communication Service Propriety Guidance, published in April 2014, what rules govern the use of government slogans by political parties.

Chris Bryant: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 37 of the Government Communication Service Propriety Guidance, published in April 2014, what assessment he has made of the propriety of the use of the phrase 'long-term economic plan' by organisations outside government.

Chris Bryant: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the term 'long-term economic plan' as a description of government economic poicy was developed by civil servants.

Mr Francis Maude: I refer the hon. Member to the Cabinet Secretary's letter of 10 July 2014 to the Shadow Secretary of State for Transport. 



Letter to Member - Propriety Guidance
(PDF Document, 272.95 KB)

Government Departments: Procurement

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance and best practice is available for government departments on providing feedback to small and medium-sized enterprises on unsuccessful submissions to government invitations to tender.

Mr Francis Maude: Contracting authorities should inform bidders of its decision to award a contract, as soon as possible after the decision has been made. This notice should include the reasons for the decision, including the characteristics and relative advantages of the successful tender, and the scores of the bidder receiving the notice and the winning bidder. Cabinet Office has issued a guide on tendering for public sector contracts:https://www.gov.uk/tendering-for-public-sector-contracts

Public Expenditure

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance he issues to government departments on best practice to adopt when approaching (a) independent charities and (b) non-departmental public bodies for funding for departmental programmes or policies.

Mr Rob Wilson: The Cabinet Office has cross government responsibility for the national Compact, which is the agreement between government and the voluntary and community sector (which includes independent charities). The Compact provides a framework for ways of working including the approach to funding relationships. Departments are expected to follow the principles set out in Managing Public Money

NESTA

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the internal review by Geoff Mulgan published on 21 August 2014 on NESTA support for the Big Society Network, if he will publish all correspondence between (a) Lord Wei and NESTA and (b) Paul Twivy, Steve Moore, Giles Gibbons and Martyn Rose and his Department on NESTA funding for (i) the Big Society Network, (ii) Big Society Capital and (iii) any other project NESTA has been requested by his Department to support since May 2010.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the internal review by Geoff Mulgan published on 21 August 2014 on NESTA support for the Big Society Network, under what criteria it was decided to make a request to NESTA to support (a) the Big Society Network and (b) other similar projects.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the internal review by Geoff Mulgan published on 21 August 2014 on NESTA support for the Big Society Network, who authorised the approach by Lord Wei to NESTA on the funding of the Your Local Budget project; and which other bodies Lord Wei approached on the funding of that project.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies and procedures of the internal review by Geoff Mulgan published on 21 August 2014 on NESTA support for the Big Society Network; and what changes he plans to make to his Department's procedures and processes as a result.

Mr Rob Wilson: Whilst NESTA's internal review highlights that Lord Wei, among others, made a request suggesting that they consider various initiatives, no formal instruction from Government was made. NESTA’s internal review is also clear that this was not an instruction from the Government. Lord Wei was not a Government Minister.We constantly keep procedures and policies under review. In this instance, NESTA’s internal review did not highlight anything of relevance in this regard.Lord Wei did not request that that NESTA fund any organisations and, therefore, there is no such correspondence.

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Art Works

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much his Department has spent on transporting, installing and removing works of art from the Government Art Collection for the display of artwork in his Department since May 2010.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Provision of figures for each financial year and each display covered by the PQ would incur disproportionate costs. The table below identifies the spend in each financial year since May 2010 for transporting, installing and removing works of art for Government Art Collection (GAC) displays in Government buildings in the UK and abroad. The figures also include transport from GAC to and from framers and/or conservators, to and from galleries/individual artist studios and incorporates packing, crating, art handling, transport, installation and de-installation.  YearTransport for ongoing GAC display and conservation UKOverseas ££2010-1158,52064,5972011-1263,79840,0042012-1393,89632,1032013-1462,85481,3732014-15  (Year to date)57,80679,309

Arts: Finance

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much Arts Council England funding was awarded to organisations in (a) the London Borough of Hackney, (b) London and (c) England in each of the last five years.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Arts Council England has invested the following in the last five years:   Hackney Grant in Aid (£000s)Lottery (£000s)Total (£000s)2009/10£7,418£2,150,000£9,5682010/11£7,088£1,103,000£8,1912011/12£6,616£2,713£9,3292012/13£7,861£5,294£13,1552013/14£6,445£3,092£9,537Total (£000s)£35,427£14,353£49,780 Arts Council funding supports a number of arts organisations in Hackney such as the Graeae Theatre which champions the inclusion of Deaf and disabled people in the arts (which received £ 2,051,208 between 2011/12-2013/14), the Hackney Empire (which received £1,635,357 between 2011/12 and 2013/14) and the acclaimed Punchdrunk Theatre (£599,351 between 2011/12 and 2013/14) which tours and works both in and outside of London.London Grant in Aid (£000s)Lottery (£000s)Total (£000s)2009/10£190,203£44,062£234,2652010/11£197,575£40,318£237,8932011/12£180,966£56,656£237,6212012/13£188,055£143,886£331,9412013/14£184,892£52,193£237,085Total (£000s)£941,690£337,114£1,278,805England Grant in Aid (£000s)Lottery (£000s)Total (£000s)2009/10£411,052£144,091£555,1432010/11£419,878£95,571£515,4482011/12£363,507£157,210£520,7172012/13£434,258£316,128£750,3862013/14£434,944£171,275£606,219Total (£000s)£2,063,638£884,274£2,947,912

Odyssey Marine Exploration

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what representations his Department has received from or on behalf of Odyssey Maritime Exploration on regulations pertaining to the management of shipwrecks.

Mr Edward Vaizey: No representations have been received by DCMS from or on behalf of Odyssey Maritime Exploration on regulations pertaining to the management of shipwrecks.

BBC

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make it his policy to propose to the BBC, as part of the forthcoming negotiations on renewal of its Royal Charter, that under a renewed Charter the BBC should be required to demonstrate more transparency about fees, expenses and salaries paid to all staff or employees of the Corporation who earn more than £100,000 per annum.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Further to the answer I gave the hon. Member for East Londonderry on 12 May, Official Report, col 305W, there are no current plans to make such proposals. The Government has said that the right time to consider all aspects of the BBC is the Charter Review; this will not be starting in advance of the Election in 2015.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if his Department will commission, in conjunction with the devolved administrations, research into the penetration of high-speed broadband services in rural areas.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Ofcom is responsible for monitoring broadband markets and publishes Superfast broadband coverage and take-up data by local authority area on their UK Fixed Broadband Map. The 2013 edition is available at: http://maps.ofcom.org.uk/broadband/ Ofcom’s 2014 Infrastructure Report is expected to be published in early December.

World War I: Anniversaries

Sir Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress he has made in ensuring that the First World War is appropriately commemorated.

Mrs Helen Grant: The events DCMS hosted on 4th August set a fitting tone and struck a chord with the public. This month my RT. Hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, announced a memorable and dignified programme of events to commemorate the Gallipoli campaign. Alongside the Department for Communities and Local Government and other partners we are also offering a variety of programmes that are allowing local communities to mark the centenary in their own way, including the restoration of War memorials, school battlefield visits and the honouring of local VC recipients.

Department of Health

Cancer

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with stakeholders about the future of the National Cancer Peer Review programme.

Jane Ellison: My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not recently met with any stakeholders about the future of the National Cancer Peer Review programme.   NHS England is currently reviewing the National Cancer Peer Review programme with a view to considering how its success might be extended into other new areas of specialised commissioning. This review will consider the benefits of the programme. Regardless of the outcome of this review, cancer peer review will continue to play a critical part of any broader peer review programme NHS England may look to introduce.   NHS England provides regular updates on its work to external and internal stakeholders every 3-4 weeks. There are also briefings given at key meetings and to key groups - for example the Patient and Public Voice Assurance Group. Updates can be found on the NHS England website.   http://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/commissioning/spec-services/task-force/mid-term-report/

Hospitals: Waiting Lists

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects the Health and Social Care Information Centre to lease further procedure data on waiting times for hip and knees treatments; and what the reason for the time taken to release that data is.

Jane Ellison: The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) are expecting to publish final 2013-14 hospital episode statistics for admitted patient care in January 2015. This will include data to allow analysis of procedures on hips and knees. The processing of annual hospital episode statistics has been transferred in-house to the HSCIC from the previous third-party supplier, and additional time is needed this year to test and assure the new arrangements.

Health Professions: Training

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses (i) began and (ii) completed their qualifications in each of the last 20 years.

Dr Daniel Poulter: There are 1,300 more full time equivalent nurses in the NHS than in 2010 and 8,300 more full time equivalent doctors.   The NHS is responsible for determining the number of places to make available for pre-registration nurse training in England. Since April 2013, Health Education England has held this responsibility. The following table provides information on the number of pre-registration nurse training places that were filled in each year since 1996. The Department does not hold data prior to this date.   YearNumber of placesYearNumber of placesYearNumber of places1996-9714,3252002-0321,5232008-0920,6641997-9815,7432003-0422,8152009-1020,8291998-9916,8372004-0523,3772010-1120,0921999-200017,6922005-0620,3082011-1217,7412000-0118,9232006-0721,1992012-1317,2192001-0220,6102007-0819,3522013-1417,568 Source: Data provided to the Department of Health by the commissioners of pre-registration training   The Department does not hold information on the number of students completing nurse training.   The Department does not hold information on the number of students starting and completing their medical degrees. This information is available from the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

Nurses: Resignations

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many UK citizens who trained to be nurses left the profession before their retirement age in each of the last 20 years.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department does not hold information on the number of United Kingdom citizens who trained to be nurses but left the profession before their retirement age.

Art Works

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department has spent on transporting, installing and removing works of art from the Government Art Collection for the display of artwork in his Department since May 2010.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department has not incurred any costs relating to the display of artworks from the Government Art Collection.

Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons prescriptions for blood-testing strips are being refused or restricted for individuals with diabetes.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will issue guidance to GPs to remind them that prescriptions for blood-testing strips should not be restricted for other than clinical reasons.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of diabetics who have had prescriptions for blood-testing strips withdrawn or restricted.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will take steps to make blood-testing strips more widely available for individuals with diabetes.

George Freeman: Prescriptions are a matter for individual clinicians. There are no national restrictions on the prescribing of blood glucose testing strips to patients with diabetes. It is for local commissioners and clinicians to make decisions on how these strips should feature in the provision of diabetes services for their local populations. A variety of brands of blood glucose testing strips are listed in the Drug Tariff for general practitioners to prescribe for their patients as required. We have no plans to issue guidance to general practitioners on this issue.

Drugs: Licensing

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to address difficulties of access to off-patent drugs.

George Freeman: Off patent medicines are those where the original manufacturer’s patent has expired. The National Health Service has an excellent record in using these medicines. This is known as generic prescribing and over 83% of prescribing in primary care is done generically.   The term ‘off-label’ prescribing refers to the use of a drug outside of its licensed indication, i.e. in a different dose or for a different condition. We are focussing on supporting clinicians in incorporating the most up to date and robust evidence into patient care, including where that may involve the off-label use of a medicine.

Cancer: Older People

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps (a) his Department and (b) NHS England are taking to improve early diagnosis of cancer for patients aged over 75.

Jane Ellison: Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer, published in January 2011, committed over £450 million over the four years up to 2014-15 to achieve earlier diagnosis of symptomatic cancer. The earlier diagnosis money is designed to support centrally led Be Clear on Cancer (BCOC) campaigns; improved direct general practitioner (GP) access to four key diagnostic tests to support the diagnosis of brain tumours, bowel, lung, and ovarian cancers; and increased testing and treatment costs in secondary care. GPs are able to access these tests directly in cases where the two-week urgent referral pathway is not appropriate but a patient’s symptoms require further investigation. The intention is that more people presenting with relevant symptoms, including patients aged over 75 will be tested and at an earlier stage. NHS England monitors the use of these diagnostic tests through the Diagnostic Imaging Dataset.   Since 2011 the Department and Public Health England (since 2013) in partnership with NHS England (including NHS Improving Quality) and other stakeholders have run national BCOC campaigns for bladder and kidney, bowel, breast and lung cancers; regional campaigns for ovarian, oesophagogastric cancers, and local pilot campaigns to raise awareness of four symptoms of unexplained bleeding, lump, pain, and weight loss; and awareness of skin and prostate cancers.   BCOC campaigns are aimed at men and women over the age of 55 and their key influencers (e.g. family members) and use television (at regional and national level), radio and press and face-to-face events. The breast cancer campaign from February to March 2014 was specifically aimed at women over 70 as there is considerable evidence that many older women are not aware that they are still at risk.   In 2012, to increase the awareness of cancer amongst GPs and support GPs to assess all patients more effectively, the Department funded the British Medical Journal (BMJ) Learning to provide an e-learning tool for GPs. The modules include tackling late diagnosis; risk assessment tools; and cancer pathway and the role of primary care.   In 2013, Macmillan Cancer Support, partly funded by the Department, piloted an electronic cancer decision support tool for GPs to use in their routine practice. Following the pilot, Macmillan is now offering the tool free of charge to all GPs in the United Kingdom.   The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is in the process of updating the Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer (2005) to ensure that it reflects latest evidence and can continue to support GPs to identify patients with the symptoms of suspected cancer and urgently refer them as appropriate. NICE’s draft is currently out for consultation until 9 January 2015. The anticipated publication date for the revised guidelines is May 2015.   Men and women aged 75 and over are able to self-refer for bowel screening every two years if they wish. Women over 70 are able to self-refer every three years for breast screening.   Finally, NHS England in their recent publication ‘Five Year Forward View’ (October 2014) acknowledge that cancer survival is below the European average, especially for people aged over 75. The report highlights that improvements in outcomes will require action on better prevention; swifter access to diagnosis, and better treatment and care for all those diagnosed with cancer.

Cancer: Older People

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions NHS England has had with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Advisory Committee on introducing an indicator measuring over-75 mortality rates from cancer in the 2015-16 Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Indicator Set.

Jane Ellison: NHS England has not held discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Advisory Committee on introducing an indicator measuring over-75 mortality rates from cancer in the 2015-16 Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Indicator Set (CCG OIS). The 2014-15 CCG OIS contains a range of indicators to support commissioners to understand key local issues in relation to cancer survival and early diagnosis which include over 75s: cancer: diagnosis via emergency routes; cancer: record of stage at diagnosis; cancer: early detection; lung cancer: record of stage at diagnosis; and breast cancer: mortality.

NHS England

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the National Clinical Director of Work and Health post was deleted; for what reasons that post was deleted; and what plans his Department has to replace that post.

Jane Ellison: The National Clinical Director for Health and Work was created in 2006 to provide independent leadership to a formal, cross-Government health, work and well-being programme of work. The role ended with the formal conclusion of the programme at the end of 2011. The Department has no current plans to reinstate the role.   Dame Carol Black was appointed the first National Director for Health and Work (1 September 2006 – 31 December 2011). Since then, the Department has appointed Dame Carol as its Expert Adviser on Health and Work, a role she also performs for Public Health England. Additionally, Dame Carol chairs the Public Health Responsibility Deal Health at Work Network.

Cancer

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 7 November 2014 to Question 213582, what the costs already identified by the Walton Centre NHS Trust are for treating patients (a) surgically and (b) with stereotactic radiotherapy and stereotactic radiosurgery.

Jane Ellison: This data is not released by NHS England on the grounds of commercial sensitivity.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress he is making on implementing seven-day working for mental health care.

Norman Lamb: NHS England has an ambition to achieve genuine parity of esteem between physical and mental health by 2020. They are working with commissioners to require that services deliver 10 clinical standards that describe the minimum quality of care for patients admitted urgently or as emergencies on every day of the week.   One of the standards states that people with mental health needs must be assessed within appropriate timescales 24 hours a day, seven days a week:   - within one hour for emergency care needs; - within the same day for urgent care needs; and - makes clear that unless the liaison team provides 24 hour cover, there must be effective collaboration between the liaison team and out-of-hours services (e.g. Crisis Resolution Home Treatment Teams, on-call staff, etc.).   By March 2017 all 10 standards should be incorporated into national quality requirements in the NHS Standard Contract with appropriate contractual sanctions in place for non-compliance, as for other high priority service requirements.

Arthritis

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of arthritis patients receive their first treatment within three months of diagnosis.

Norman Lamb: The Department does not collect this data. Patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis should be referred for treatment at the earliest stage as set out in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence clinical guideline Rheumatoid arthritis: The management of rheumatoid arthritis in adults, published in 2009.

Muscular Dystrophy: Drugs

Dr Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that emerging treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy which receive conditional approval are available through the Early Access to Medicines Scheme as early as possible; what steps he is taking to encourage flexible approaches to the licensing process for potential new treatments for rare conditions; what progress NHS England has made on development of a commissioning policy for the Translarna treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: The Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS) aims to give patients with life threatening or seriously debilitating conditions access to medicines that do not yet have a marketing authorisation when there is a clear unmet medical need. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for the scientific aspects of the scheme and the scientific opinion will be provided after a two-step evaluation process: - step I, the promising innovative medicine (PIM) designation - step II, the early access to medicines scientific opinion   The PIM designation will give an indication that a product may be eligible for the EAMS (based on early clinical data) and that the development programme is on track. The PIM designation will be issued after an MHRA scientific meeting and could be given several years before the product is licensed.   The scheme is voluntary and the opinion from MHRA does not replace the normal licensing procedures for medicines.   There have been no applications from companies with products for Duchene Muscular Dystrophy.   The opinion will support the prescriber and patient to make a decision on whether to use the medicine before its licence is approved. The EAMS scientific opinion is valid for one year in the first instance and lapses at this time or at the time of the grant of a marketing authorisation e.g. conditional marketing authorisation.   For certain categories of medicines going through the centralised marketing authorisation procedure (European procedure), in order to meet unmet medical needs of patients and in the interest of public health, it may be necessary to grant marketing authorisations on the basis of less complete data than is normally required. In such cases, it is possible to recommend the granting of a marketing authorisation subject to certain specific obligations to be reviewed annually, a conditional approval. The granting of a conditional marketing authorisation will allow medicines to reach patients with unmet medical needs earlier than might otherwise be the case.   A conditional marketing authorisation for the first in class medicinal product Translarna (ataluren) was granted this year. Translarna is an orphan medicinal product that is used to treat patients aged five years and older with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) who are able to walk. Translarna is expected to slow down the loss of walking ability in DMD patients. As part of the conditional marketing authorisation, the company will be required to provide comprehensive data on the efficacy of Translarna from an ongoing confirmatory study.   Rare diseases are classified as conditions affecting no more than 5 in 10,000 people in European Union and patients with rare conditions deserve the same quality, safety and efficacy in medicines as other patients with more common conditions. Since the pharmaceutical industry has little interest, under normal market conditions, in developing and marketing medicines intended for small numbers of patients (orphan medicinal products), the European Union offers a range of incentives to encourage the development of these medicines in order to address the unmet clinical need (orphan drug legislation, Regulation (EC) No 141/2000). These incentives include a period of 10 years market exclusivity, the provision of Protocol Assistance (scientific advice specifically tailored for orphan medicinal products) and fee reductions and waivers for regulatory procedures. Products intended for treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy qualify for incentives in the orphan drug legislation.   Applications for the designation of orphan medicines are reviewed by the European Medicines Agency through the Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP). For orphan designation, the following criteria must be fulfilled. The medicinal product is intended for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of a life-threatening or chronically debilitating condition affecting no more than 5 in 10,000 persons in the European Union or without incentives it is unlikely that expected sales of the medicinal product would cover the investment in its development and no satisfactory method of diagnosis, prevention or treatment of the condition concerned is authorised, or, if such method exists, the medicinal product will be of significant benefit to those affected by the condition. Via the MHRA, the United Kingdom takes an active role in the decision making process at the COMP, ensuring applications for Orphan Drug designation of potential drug candidates for rare diseases are appropriately recognised, encouraging companies to develop their products further. For licensing, it is compulsory for designated orphan medicinal products to use the centralised procedure to gain a marketing authorisation.   The UK is fully represented at the Committee on Human Medicinal Products, ensuring that applications for a Marketing Authorisation (MA) for an Orphan Drug are thoroughly and rapidly evaluated for quality, safety and efficacy and a MA is granted without undue delay for the treatment of rare diseases.   In some circumstances, marketing authorisations may undergo a more rapid regulatory review called ‘accelerated assessment’. This occurs where the Applicant can demonstrate that the medicinal product is expected to be of major public health interest (particularly from the point of view of therapeutic innovation). For drugs for rare diseases, marketing authorisation applications may be granted as a conditional authorisation or an authorisation under exceptional circumstances. The granting of a conditional marketing authorisation allow medicines to reach patients with unmet medical needs earlier than might otherwise be the case, and ensures that additional data on a product are generated, submitted, assessed and acted upon. Under exceptional circumstances, the MA Applicant must demonstrate that he is unable to provide comprehensive data on the efficacy and safety under normal conditions of use, because, for example, the indications for which the product in question is intended are encountered so rarely that the Applicant cannot reasonably be expected to provide comprehensive evidence.   NHS England can confirm that a draft clinical commissioning policy for Translarna treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy has been developed and is being considered as part of the annual funding prioritisation process for 2015-16.

Prostate Cancer

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will have discussions with his counterparts in the devolved administrations with the aim of replicating best practice in extending survival rates for men diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Jane Ellison: Research and evidence of best practice in health is shared widely across the United Kingdom. However, as health is a devolved matter Ministers do not routinely discuss health issues with their counterparts.   The Government’s Mandate to NHS England sets out an ambition to make England one of the most successful countries in Europe at preventing premature deaths from all cancers, including prostate cancer. Cancer indicators in the NHS Outcomes Framework and the Public Health Outcomes Framework will help NHS England to assess progress in improving cancer survival and mortality for men with prostate cancer.   The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published an updated clinical guideline on the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer in January 2014. To help reduce regional variations, the Care Quality Commission is increasingly incorporating information from accreditation and peer review programmes into its assessments of NHS trusts' services for the treatment of prostate cancer. This includes the national cancer peer review programme and the cancer patient experience survey, both of which encompass prostate cancer.   The National Prostate Cancer Audit (NCPA) First Year Annual Report was published on the 10 November 2014. The report covers the work undertaken since April 2013. It includes a preliminary analysis of the NPCA’s organisational audit, an analysis of existing data sets including patients with prostate cancer in England, and the design of the NPCA’s prospective audit dataset. The findings from the audit will contribute to changes in clinical practice ensuring that patients receive the best care possible and experience an improved quality of life.

Incontinence

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the revised Nursing and Midwifery Code will include provisions on bowel and bladder care to take account of the findings of the Francis Report on poor continence care.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Code: Standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwives, is produced by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). The NMC are currently redeveloping The Code and have advised that the new Code will be published in early 2015.   The Code has little to do with specific tasks or clinical procedures. It is not about the detail in a nurse's or midwife's clinical expertise. It is about conduct, behaviour, ethics and professionalism.   There have been a number of high profile reports in the healthcare sector and these have all impacted on the nursing and midwifery professions and the revising of the Code.

Nurses and Midwives

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when a revised Nursing and Midwifery Code will be published.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Code: Standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwives, is produced by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). The NMC are currently redeveloping The Code and have advised that the new Code will be published in early 2015.

Urinary System: Infectious Diseases

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost is to the NHS of emergency hospital admissions for urinary tract infections amongst people over 65 in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The information is not available in the format requested.   The most helpful information available is from reference costs, which are the average unit cost to National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts of providing defined services in a given financial year to NHS patients. Reference costs are not collected against the primary classification systems used by hospitals to code diseases and procedures. Instead, reference costs for acute care are collected against a secondary classification system called Healthcare Resource Groups (HRGs), which are standard groupings of clinically similar treatments that consume common levels of healthcare resource.   There are several HRGs within reference costs which give the cost of kidney or urinary tract infections. None of them distinguish between different types of infections or between patient ages. The most recent average unit cost for each non-elective finished consultant episode classified against these HRGs in 2013-14 was £1,137. The total cost for all such episodes in 2013-14 was £458.3 million.

Hospitals

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance he has given to hospital trusts on the timing and manner of publication of agendas for board meetings; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: No specific guidance has been given to trusts on the timing and manner of publication of agendas for board meetings. However, last year the NHS Leadership Academy published The Healthy NHS Board 2013 - Principles for Good Governance, which advises on wider governance arrangements for trust boards, including board agenda planning and management.   A copy of the document is attached.   



The Healthy NHS Board 2013
(PDF Document, 1.15 MB)

Hereditary Diseases: Screening

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what NHS England's policy is on testing family members of known carriers for VLCAD deficiency.

Dr Daniel Poulter: NHS England does not have a policy on testing family members of known carriers of the fatty-acid oxidation disorder very long-chain acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase deficiency.

Babies: Screening

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will add VLCAD deficiency to his Department's newborn screening programme.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many babies were born with VLCAD deficiency in the UK in the last year for which figures are available; and what proportion of those babies died within the first seven days.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy and supports implementation.   The UK NSC is currently reviewing newborn screening for very long chain acyl CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (VLCADD) against its internationally recognised criteria. A public consultation on the screening review opened on 21 November 2014 and will close on 23 February 2015. A copy of the consultation is available at   http://www.screening.nhs.uk/fattyacidoxidation.   Data on the number of babies born with VLCADD deficiency in the UK and data on the number of babies who died within the first seven days from the disorder is not held centrally.

Women and Equalities

Directors: Females

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Ministers for Women and Equalities, what estimate her Department has made of the overall change in women's representation in boardrooms in the private sector in the UK between 1984 and 2014.

Jo Swinson: The Government supports Cranfield University which produces the Female FTSE report. This measures progress annually of the female representation on UK listed boards.  · In 1999 the proportion of women directors was 6.29%. This included female Executive Directors (EDs) at 2.02% and Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) at 10.82%. In 2000 the proportion of female directors had fallen to 5.81%.  · In 2011 the Government established the Lord Davies Review when the number of women on FTSE boards was still only 12.5%. · The latest figures published in November show almost a doubling of these figures since 2011. Nearly 23% (249) of directors in the FTSE100 are now women. Of these 8.4% (24) are executive directors and 27.9% (225) are non-executive directors. There are now no all-male boards left in the FTSE100 and we are on track to meet the target set by Lord Davies of 25% women on boards by 2015. With the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), Government also funds Cranfield University to monitor corporate governance practices in respect of whether companies are complying with the changes in the FRC code. The last report was launched by the Minister for Women and Equalities on 5 November. The report shows progress is being made in the FTSE 100 companies with 85% having a clear policy on boardroom diversity in comparison to 65% last year. The Government wants to see all companies addressing every point of the new Code in their reporting.

Human Rights: Females

Sir Oliver Heald: To ask the Ministers for Women and Equalities, what recent discussions she has had with her international counterparts on protecting the rights of women and girls overseas.

Jo Swinson: We participate in the Commission on the Status of Women, which is the principal global event on women’s rights organised by the UN. My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Minister for Women and Equalities, recently returned from the US where she had a meeting with the Executive Director of UN Women, and others active in the field, to discuss the forthcoming session, which will be held in March next year. In the summer we hosted two global events – a summit with a focus on preventing sexual violence in conflict, which generated strong international support; and a girl summit, which brought together a range of international stakeholders to accelerate momentum in tackling child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.